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Planning

Scraped lots are not entitled to variances because of tree placement

Generally, when trees are the cause of a variance request, the Board of Adjustment is quite accommodating. After all, considering all the good trees do for the environment and the city’s stringent protections for them, it can be difficult for…

Del Valle PID moves forward, but county is not done negotiating

The petition to create the Velocity Crossing Public Improvement District in Del Valle was unanimously approved by the Travis County Commissioners Court Tuesday morning after its third and final public hearing. As the county’s first commercial PID, the development has…

Citing density concerns, West Austin lot receives recommendation for subdivision

After purchasing his home in May 2016 under the assumption that the city would permit him to subdivide his 3.2-acre lot into two 1.6-acre lots, Rick Engel, the owner of Ski Shores restaurant, found himself still pleading his case almost three…

Council weighs mixed messages from staff on car dealership

City Council approved a request Thursday to provide water and wastewater service to a car dealership in northwest Travis County over the objections of the city’s Watershed Protection Department. The car lot, 620 Volvo Dealership, is going to be built…

2019 could be the year to end city parking minimums

The Pedestrian Advisory Council is asking City Council to confront a broad spectrum of issues this year with a simple change to the city’s dated land use code. In a unanimous vote Monday evening, PAC approved a recommendation to Council…

Zoning and Platting Commission discusses validity of previous vote

At the last meeting of the Zoning and Platting Commission on Jan. 29, even with a full dais the commission was unable to muster the supermajority vote needed to approve a request for a flag lot at 11603 Tedford St.…

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Planning Commission OKs change to 30-year-old development agreement

Homes produce a lot less sewage now than they did 30 years ago. That’s partly why the Planning Commission decided Tuesday to allow the construction of an office building in western Travis County over the objections of city staff. The…

Neighborhood planning poised to change

The Planning Commission was recently briefed on the future of small area planning by Planning and Zoning staff. Austin has focused its small area planning around the neighborhood planning strategy since a 1997 City Council resolution. But subsequent to a…

To light or not to light, that is the question

While no one wants to light West Campus up like the Las Vegas Strip, with such density comes a need for signage that can be seen both night and day. “We think that (not having signage) may be a safety…

A new neighborhood group hopes to speak for student renters in West Campus

While many University of Texas students were busy studying for final exams, senior Allie Runas was thinking about cracks in the sidewalk. After years of stepping over cracks in West Campus, she decided to do something and founded the West…

Waller Creek taxes ID'd to possibly fund $30M in housing for homeless

City staff members have recommended that City Council consider using funds from the tax increment refinancing zone (TIRZ) created for the Waller Creek improvement project and system of parks as the biggest funding source for providing housing and services for…

Old mine to become new town center

A decades-old sand and gravel mine just east of Austin city limits may be about to get a face-lift as a new Mueller-esque planned unit development (PUD). The proposal for the 2,122-acre property includes 12,000 residential units, 2.25 million square…

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